Maxtor is inching its way into Iomega territory, by tripling the disk size for its Personal Storage 3000LE USB 2.0 external hard drive line.

The latest 120GB model ships in the US 'in early February' and carries a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP)of $299.95. You can buy it also online through MaxtorDirect.

Maxtor is retaining the 40GB Personal Storage model - this has an MSRP of $199.

The line is aimed at people who need extra storage capacity but would really rather not open up the computers to install a new hard disk. It also treads on Iomega's toes, as people who only need bigger hard disks (and not bigger storage media), have lesson reason to purchase Zip drives.